Trial by fire for Seoul's new President

Picture: AFPRoh Moo-hyun meets US troops with the commander of US and Korean forces, General Leon LaPorte.

Roh Moo-hyun is only the President-elect. But already he is facing the crisis of a lifetime with an erratic neighbour. Shane Green reports from Tokyo.

When he won the presidency of South Korea a month ago today, Roh Moo-hyun had just cause to celebrate his remarkable rise to the leadership of his nation.

Mr Roh personified much of what the South Korea of today is about: a self-made man who, as the son of poor farmers, forged a career as a lawyer-turned-politician. Now, the Blue House - the South Korean presidential mansion - is his.

Tempering the elation was the knowledge that the erratic behaviour of communist North Korea would loom large in the first days of his presidency, following Pyongyang's apparent admission last October that it had a nuclear weapons program.

In the month since the election, the President-elect has watched as the Korean problem has escalated into a full-blown crisis. In a matter of weeks, Pyongyang expelled UN nuclear inspectors, flagged that it would resume missile testing, and implicitly threatened to turn the South into a "sea of fire".

This would be enough action for an entire presidency, let alone a month. But it is the reality that the 56-year-old Mr Roh, a man virtually unknown outside his own country, is now confronting.");document.write("

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While he does not officially assume power from Kim Dae-jung until February 25, he has effectively been operating in the presidency these past few weeks. While his transition team works feverishly, he has been involved in critical talks this week with Washington's top envoy in Asia.

The message from Mr Roh has been a continuation of the policy of his predecessor and colleague in the Millennium Democratic Party: the way to deal with North Korea is through engagement, rather than confrontation.

Mr Roh's election was an endorsement of the Sunshine Policy of engagement developed by Mr Kim, which earned him a Nobel prize. The December poll gave voters a choice between Mr Roh's policy of reconciliation and the harder line of Lee Hoi-chang of the Grand National Party.

The result was also a repudiation of the Bush administration's policy of trying to stare down North Korea - a member of its "axis of evil". Washington would probably have been more comfortable with Mr Lee, the hawk. In Mr Roh, they have a liberal who is firmly set on a path of rapprochement with Pyongyang - an important factor the US must consider in its policy.

Washington was also worried about Mr Roh's apparent anti-US sentiments. He once was associated with calls for the withdrawal of the 37,000 US troops in South Korea, although he has renounced that position.

Even during the campaign, he suggested that the South would not necessarily support the US if it went to war with the North. This came at a time when anti-US sentiment was high, following the acquittal of two US soldiers who accidentally ran down and killed two South Korean teenagers in June.

But since his election - and the nuclear crisis - Mr Roh has sounded much more like a US ally. This week, he stood before US troops and described them as "the driving force of security and the backbone of our prosperity".

Mr Roh made his name in the 1980s defending students who were accused of sedition by the military-backed regime. He was arrested in 1997 for supporting a banned protest.

But it was his questioning in 1988 of generals involved in a 1980 massacre that earned him the most recognition.

Michael Breen, a Seoul-based commentator and author of the book The Koreans, said Mr Roh came into office "with zero experience" in international affairs.

But Breen pointed out that "just because someone doesn't have experience internationally, doesn't mean they're going to do something stupid". By all accounts, Breen said, the new President "is a very thoughtful, rational and articulate man".

Mr Roh will need all these attributes as he makes his way through the crisis. Next week, Seoul will host ministerial talks with the North, with the nuclear issue topping the agenda.

The very existence of the talks points to a greater degree of reconciliation than the outside world realises.

Even after the October nuclear admission, cooperation between the two Koreas continued, including work on historic rail and road links through the Demilitarised Zone that divides the two countries.

On-credit rice shipments to the impoverished North have also continued. Last year, about 1700 people, separated by the two Koreas, were involved in family reunions.

If Pyongyang and the world can safely negotiate this crisis, Mr Roh will preside over a significant implementation of the Sunshine Policy, edging towards the elusive vision of one Korea.